The 46th Hunger Games
by AvidReader3752
Summary: Mercilli Grant was only 12 when she was reaped into the 46th Annual Hunger Games. Will she be able to outlive the 23 other tributes and return home? Or will she die at the hands of a traitor?
1. Chapter 1

**_*Authors Note*_**

**_So I originally posted this story a couple months ago, but I've edited a bit more, and I'm going in a slightly different direction. So bear with me as I edit and re-upload each _****_chapter. As always... Review please!_**

**_- AvidReader3752_**

My heart pounded as I waited for the escort for district 4 Sealle, to read the names of the District 4 tributes for the 46th Hunger Games.

I was more worried for my brother than myself because he had 7 entries and I only had 1. Every time I thought he might possibly get picked I reasoned with myself that many kids had twice as many entries as he did because they were desperate enough to sign up for tesserae and the odds were unlikely.

My family was lucky enough to have enough food not to apply for tesserae. My 18 year old brother says that he's worried about me because if I'm reaped than there will be no one to volunteer for me. I told him that the same was true for him but he ignored me, Brothers.

When my dad gave me a big hug and mother kissed the top of my head gently before we left the house I knew that they were concerned, my dad was never affectionate. That was a little while ago and now I am standing in Main Square my heart pounding away.

"Ladies first, Now…Mercilli Grant" called out Sealle. Her voice was ringing in my ears. Mercilli Grant… Mercilli Grant… Wait! That was me! I'm Mercilli Grant!

The crowd slowly backed way for me as I made my way up to the stage. Everyone looked at me as if I had some sort of disease and didn't want to be anywhere near me. I heard a noise that sounded like a strangled sob and I turned around to see my mother weeping and my dad comforting her whilst being held back by peacekeepers.

My brother was silently crying and had a look of sheer horror on his face. Sealle congratulated me and then walked over to the other ball filled with paper. I hated how genuinely excited she was about the games. It was sick. She pulled out a slip of paper, read off of it the name Blaine Scroll, whose name I vaguely recognized as one of my brothers schoolmates, before the peacekeepers escorted us to the Justice Building of District 4.

Once I was inside I tried to calm myself by breathing in and out slowly. My parents walked noisily into the room along with my brother as we all wept. My brother gained control and said that he loved me and wished me luck. My parents did likewise and my mother started weeping into my already messed up stringy blonde hair. By that time the peacekeeper had come back all too soon and made my family leave.

As I watched my family exit the small room, my brother and I made eye contact. The question of why he didn't volunteer for Blaine crossed my mind, but I let it slide. I didn't want the last time I saw my brother to be angering. I knew that they didn't expect to see me in person again. A few seconds after the thick door had closed, someone else burst through the door and I felt relieved. It was Ally, my best friend.

"Hey" she said as she walked toward me with a watery smile. I could tell she had already cried many tears.

"Ally!" I gasped as I threw my arms around her neck. "What are you doing here?"

"Coming to say see ya' later of course." she replied solemnly as she knew that it wasn't true. I could tell she was trying to make me feel better but It wasn't going to

work.

"Ally, you know I'm not coming back. Don't even pretend. It just makes it worse." Ally nodded and we hugged each other tightly before the peacekeepers came back to escort me to the train that would take me to the Capitol. My journey was beginning and I couldn't be more nervous for the end.


	2. Chapter 2

Once the train was on its way Sealle introduced us to our mentors, Adelaide and Bennett. I recognized them both from watching the Games on TV throughout the years. Adelaide had won a few years ago by using her wit to trick other players into killing each other and Bennett had been mentoring for as long as I could remember.

"What are your names", asked Adelaide with a soft and kind voice.

"Mercilli Grant", I said softly and nervously.

"Blaine Scroll", Blaine said without falter. I glanced at Blaine; He was a tall strong looking boy of 17. His hair was a dark brown-almost black-and I could see that he wasn't at all intimidated by the situation. As Adelaide stood up and shook our hands, I saw Sealle hastily attempt to sneak out of the room making as little noise as possible, though we all four saw her because she accidently ran into a lamp and cursed before proceeding to leave.

Adelaide continued "Well Mercilli, Blaine, Sealle already introduced us and we are, as of now your mentors. I will be Mercilli's and Bennett will be yours Blaine." We both nodded and Bennett escorted Blaine out to the dining car I presume to chat.

"Well Mercilli" Adelaide began, "How old are you may I ask?"

"12" I was less shy now it was just Adelaide and I in the room.

"12?!" Adelaide said astonished. "I thought you to be at least 14!"

I smiled and said quickly "My mother says that I'm tall for my age."

"Well she's right about that." Adelaide said laughing.

Soon enough it was time for dinner. I could tell that the waiters felt sorry for such a young girl going into the games. It was a well-known fact that younger tributes made it long in the games. They tried to slip me another scoop of Ice-cream during dessert because Sealle had put a limit to only 1 scoop, but I slightly nodded my head as to say "no thank you" as I was already so full I thought I was going to explode.

After dinner Bennett (who I had learned was not very talkative) turned on the TV so we could watch the recap of the reapings in the other districts. I tried to pay close attention but I only remembered a few of the other tributes because of my food induced sleepiness. There were the omnipresent strong volunteers from 1 & 2 who were at least twice my size; a brother/sister pair of tributes from 10, a girl named Brooke Valley from 7 who looked interesting enough, and a 14 year old boy named Miles from 9 who I thought looked as if he was about to pass out. I started drifting off to sleep as Blaine and Bennett started discussing allies. Adelaide picked me up as if I weighed as much as a feather and laid me down on my bed in my car. I was asleep from all of the long day's activities in a blink.

I dreamt that I was in the arena and I was running from another tribute. The tribute had a spear and was trying to impale me I presume. I didn't know what to do so I kept on running until I was cornered by many tributes with sharp weapons. I woke up crying. Within a minute of waking up Adelaide had burst into my room and was holding me in her arms all motherly like. For the first time since I had boarded this stupid train, I felt safe.

_***Authors Note***_

_**I hope you guys like the story so far. I know it's short but they will only be short until we get to the actual games. Then they will be longer. As always... review please!**_

_**-AvidReader3752**_


	3. Chapter 3

"Hurry up Mercilli! We are pulling in to the Capitol!" I groaned as I heard Sealle telling me to get up. I did not want to leave the cozy warm bed but I knew that if I didn't get up in a timely manner Sealle would have a fit. I put on a light blue blouse with jeans and left the room. In the dining car Bennett and Adelaide were silently sipping coffee and Blaine was again watching the recaps of the reapings.

"Blaine? Why are you watching those again?" Blaine ignored my question and continued to watch the TV as if I said nothing. Well, I'm sorry I asked.

"Good Morning Mercilli." said Adelaide with an encouraging smile as I walked over to the table for breakfast. "We will arrive at the Capitol in 5 minutes. I gave her a small nod and sat down to eat a small bagel and a glass of milk only to have it yanked out of my mouth by Sealle who had arrived back in the dining car looking harried complaining that I didn't have enough time to finish the bagel so I might as well not start. She then proceeded to go tell the conductor that they had better be there in the next 2 minutes or else she would- at this point Adelaide- who was sitting next to me covered my ears and I had the feeling Sealle had said another bad word. Sealle was really beginning to annoy me.

I glanced over at Bennet as I ate the small backup breakfast that Adelaide had set in front of me after Sealle disappeared with my donut. For some reason I couldn't remember Bennett's games. I wanted to ask but I felt it would be rude. Who knows if I would get an answer anyway. I got the feeling he had some brain damage that caused his lack of chattiness. Just as I finished my food, Blaine returned to the table and began to speak.

"So what can we expect at the Capitol?" he said it with indifference that I couldn't tell whether or not he was nervous or excited.

"Well we will take you to your prep team and they will prepare you to meet your stylist. Then your stylist will get you ready for the parade. Once you both are ready we will meet together downstairs and the two of you will ride in the District 4 chariot." I listened to Adelaide's words and contemplated what my stylist would be like. Some stylists have been known to be insane and have grotesque alterations to them. Others however have little modifications to themselves and have a clearer sense of fashion. I hope mine wasn't crazy.

Contrary to Sealle's wishes we got to the capitol 10 minutes later than she wanted. I have the feeling we were late because the conductor wanted to get on Sealle's nerves. I would have done the same if I was the conductor. When we arrived, there were crowds waiting and when we exited the train they all screamed in excitement. Sealle escorted us to a building and up who knows how many floors to meet our prep teams. Boy, are there some tortures they don't show you on TV. First I met my prep team which consisted of 3 ladies who looked to be in their late 20's named Darla, Marine, and Pearl. Then they waxed, plucked, and cleaned my skin. Then they brushed my hair and tamed my nails while saying things like-

"You will look Gorgeous by the time Mason is done with you!"(I'm guessing that this Mason is my stylist.)

"Ugh, when was the last time you cleaned your nails!"(Nice)

"Will you please stand still?" (I'm trying!)

After about an hour or two of beauty torture, they finally left to go and get my stylist. When he arrived I wasn't sure what to think. He looked normal enough compared to other stylists I had seen occasionally on TV, but he had a different manner about him. That was when I saw the tail.


	4. Chapter 4

As it turned out, Mason and his tail were quite stylish. We chatted a bit and I learned that he had acquired the tail on a dare and had grown quite fond of it over the years. He stood up and motioned for me to do the same. He looked me over and then had my prep team go and get me the clothes I was to wear for the parade. The parade we have in the Capitol is where they introduce the tributes. The different District's tributes were supposed to be based on their District's resource.

Being from the fishing district, I was wearing an ankle-length sea blue dress with a fabric that looked like shimmering scales and flounce at the bottom that looked like real waves. I looked in the mirror while Mason added some shell-like jewelry as the finishing touch and I could tell how proud he was of the ensemble. It really was fantastic. Usually the costumes people wear in the parades are silly looking but that was not the case here.

"Wow." I said amazed "This is incredible Mason thank-you!"

"Don't mention it." He replied in a thick capitol accent that I had made fun of so many times with Ally back home. "Let's go meet Blaine at the chariot."

We walked to the end of a hall and down an elevator to where all of the chariots we would ride were waiting. Blaine was wearing a similar outfit- a blue tux and a shell belt. I got into the chariot as Adelaide and Bennett told us good luck and left.

I caught a glimpse of the District's 1&2 tributes on their way out. The girl from 2, who's named I remembered vaguely as Allura, stared at me with a stony look and I was taken aback. Seconds later we started to pull out of the entrance and suddenly we heard screams of delight at our outfits. The crowd loved us! They announced each district in order and the two tributes representing that district.

As Blaine and I rode in our chariot I noticed the president of the capitol, Eleanor Snow looking at all of the different tributes. She would look at one for a moment that talk to one of her secretaries, and then look at another tribute. It was curious but I overlooked it. The crowd threw flowers at tributes in affection and I have to admit it felt good, until I remembered they would also be excited to see us die in a couple days.

After the parade was over I bumped into the District 7 tributes Aden & Brooke. Brooke was the interesting girl I had remembered from the reapings. Brooke had brown hair and was quite tan. She was in pretty decent shape too. I looked at her and her partners outfits. They were wearing matching leafy green costumes that looked like bushes.

"Hi" said Brooke cheerfully.

"Hi" I said hoping she was always this nice.

"I'm Brooke and this is Aden. We're from 7.", Introduced Brooke as she motioned to a taller boy who was standing nearby.

"I'm Mercilli and that is Blaine." I said pointing to where Blaine was talking with Bennett and Adelaide. "We are from 4."

"That's cool." said Brooke smiling. I like this girl. We talked for probably about 10 minutes in which I learned that she had an older brother who thought she was a pest, she had a dog named Racer, and she loved to draw. After a bit though our mentors quickly drug us away and led us to elevators that I guessed would take us to our room.

The glass walled elevator began to move upwards and I was reminded of my fear of heights. Once upstairs, I took a quick look around our lodgings. It was a big room with several doors on the sides of the room that I guessed led our bedrooms. I was correct and Adelaide directed me to a door on the left side of the room that turned out to be mine. Adelaide then helped me to the bathroom so that she could help take off all of my crazy makeup.

"Did I do ok for the parade?" I asked Adelaide shyly.

"Oh it was wonderful! You and Blaine both looked stunning." Adelaide said smiling as she rubbed eye makeup off of me.

"Good" I replied. I changed into some pajamas and told Adelaide goodnight. I fell asleep quickly but not long after I began having a nightmare. This time the Allura girl was the one running at me with a spear. I woke up at some point and had to calm myself down. Fortunately Adelaide heard me again thrashing in my sleep and came to check on me.

"You ok?" Adelaide looked genuinely concerned and came to sit on my bed with me.

"Yeah I'm fine. I just had another nightmare." Adelaide nodded at my words and I could tell that she had experienced many a nightmare in her day.

"I used to have those both before and after my Hunger Games. It was horrible. I remember them being so vivid. It was almost like my dreams were trying to reduce my confidence." I understood what she meant. These dreams weren't helping at all. "You better sleep. You have your first day of training tomorrow." As she said this Adelaide left the room and closed the door gently but not before giving me a warm hug which I really needed.

After Adelaide had left I tried to sleep. I made myself a note to ask Adelaide more about her games. She might not want to talk about it but it could help me and it was worth a shot to ask. After a couple more minutes, I had fallen asleep. No nightmares.

**_*Author's Note*_**

**_I hope everyone had enjoyed the story so far! I will try and get the 5th chapter up later this afternoon. As always... review please!_**

**_-AvidReader3752_**


	5. Chapter 5

The night before, Adelaide and Bennett had told Blaine and me that we would start training the next morning. I was nervous to say the least. I had never held a weapon in my life! How was I supposed to go and learn how to use so many different weapons in just a few days! I walked downstairs to eat breakfast before we would have to leave.

At breakfast, Sealle was raving about how marvelous the parade had been. She was eating a biscuit and talking at the same time so there were a lot of crumbs everywhere and it was hard to understand her. Blaine was in the same stony mood as always and Adelaide who had sat next to me asked if I had slept well. I nodded and sat down to eat some sausage and pancakes.

I glanced at Adelaide again. I wondered if now a good time to ask about her Hunger Games. I set down my fork and asked "Adelaide, what were your games like? I know you tricked people into killing everyone but you, but how did you win?" Adelaide considered me for a moment before beginning to speak.

"Well, once I had convinced some of the careers that it would be wiser to kill off the stronger people first since I had not shot of winning, my district partner Wes and I hid out in this hidden cave behind a waterfall. We managed to stay hidden for 2 days until there was only one other person besides the two of us. The other tribute found us and we fought for at least an hour. In the fight, Wes got his hand stuck underneath a boulder and the other tribute chopped off his hand. Then I managed to stab the guy in the chest and he died instantly.

Wes was fine other than the fact he was losing blood fast. He could have lived with medical assistance but he said he didn't want to live without his hand and all the guilt he had from the games. He told me that I deserved to win. I protested with him but he didn't listen. He let himself lose so much blood and I tried to help but he wouldn't have any of it. He died a little while later and I had won. His family back at home never really acknowledged me after that." Adelaide finished her story with a small grimace and then got up and went to her room. The rest of the table was silent. Sealle had no words for once.

About an hour later Bennett was escorting us to the training room. I walked in and saw half of the other tributes waiting for everyone else to get there. When Bennett had left I saw Brooke and Aden standing near the corner and went to go stand by them.

"Hey Mercilli ", greeted Brooke as Blaine went in the opposite direction to over where the spears were. I greeted them gladly "Oh hi Brooke, Aden." Aden acknowledged my presence and then as he left to over where Blaine had gone, Brooke took me aside.

"Don't be nice to him he's hoping to join with the careers." Brooke told careers were usually the District 1&2 tributes that had trained for years before volunteering for the games. Usually nobody from the other districts likes them- at least that's what I thought, though occasionally the tributes from 4 would join up with them. I nodded in understanding before Brooke led me over to a station.

Brooke and I talked as we went around the room trying out different things. Brooke was very quick and agile. She climbed the rockwall faster than anyone and was down before I had even made it to the top. I enjoyed the knot tying center and the things like trap making and camouflaging. Eventually we started talking about training scores.

On the last day of training they give you 15 minutes to show the gamemakers what you can do and then they give you a training score, -0- being the worst -12-the best. Brooke thought I would at least get a 6 or 7 and I guessed Brooke would get at least a 7 if not an 8. While we were working on making our arms look like a tree trunk and laughing at our failure, Brooke got distracted and started staring at something in the distance.

I followed her gaze that landed on the other side of the room. I saw a tall olive-skinned boy with shaggy brown hair. I remembered him as the 14 year old Miles who almost passed out at the reapings. He didn't look a bit nervous now. I wonder why? He glanced over my way and started over towards Brooke and myself. Brooke stiffened and quickly asked, "Do you think He is coming this way? I hope so." I smiled but then frowned. Didn't Brooke realize what we were doing right now? This was most certainly not the time to be forming crushes. The hopeful look on her face however made me forget my opinions.

"So who are you two lovely ladies?" Miles smiled at us warmly and Brooked let out a small giggle.

"I'm Mercilli and this…" I looked at Brooke who couldn't stop staring and then turned back to Miles who had an amused look on his face, "This is Brooke." Brooke smiled when I said her name and batted her eyes. I was trying my best not to laugh and was failing miserably.

"Well it's nice to meet you two." Miles was clearly aware of Brooke's flirting but didn't seem to mind. "I've watched you guys practice. You are both pretty talented. Maybe we should-"

"Be allies? I totally agree. That would be awesome! I mean, yeah I guess." Brooke had interrupted Miles and had quickly looked slightly abashed about it.

"Alrighty then its settled. I'll have my mentors talk to yours." Miles gave one last smile before walking back to the sword station he had been working at. Brooke gave a groan.

"Was I completely obvious?" I replied with a simple laugh and we started back up our training.


	6. Chapter 6

Over the next 2 days Brooke, Miles, and I became allies. Our mentors had talked and everything was set. I had learned that I was pretty handy with a knife and spear and I was good at camouflage. Brooke still liked Miles even though I told her she might have to kill him eventually which I told her was just setting herself up for heartache.

I hadn't talked much to Adelaide the past couple days since she had told me more about her games. I had learned from Sealle that she had needed a bit of therapy after her games. Bennett had needed even more than that. It was the morning of our gamemaker sessions and I was nervous. I highly expected to get a low number, like a 4 and that would not be good in the sponsor's view. 30 minutes later I was sitting down by Blaine and the boy from 5 waiting for them to call me.

After over an hour of waiting in dead silence, they called me in after Blaine's session and I walked in feeling terrified. I went in and the gamemakers told me to proceed. I walked over to the knives and threw a few, then hurled some spears at a dummy, one of them splitting the dummy in half causing it to spill sand all over the floor, which made me look a lot better than I actually was. I glanced up at the gamemakers. Some looked only slightly impressed, while others just ate food and laughed at each other's conversations. I bolted to the camouflage center and made my leg look like a grassy plain which didn't seem to impress them anymore than they already weren't until finally the 15 minutes were up and they dismissed me. It had been quite rude of them to not even pay attention to me but oh well. It is what it is.

Adelaide had said that she and Bennett would wait for me and Blaine to finish and they would take us back upstairs. I walked out of the training room to see only Bennett waiting for me.

"Where are the others?" I curiously questioned Bennett.

"Adelaide wasn't feeling her best. Blaine didn't want to wait."

As Bennett led me back to our suite, I wondered what could be wrong with Adelaide. She had seemed fine enough this morning at breakfast. When we had reached the suite, I walked in to see Adelaide and Blaine sitting on one of the furry cyan couches in the room. They had been in a deep conversation which had ended abruptly when Bennet and I had walked in. Adelaide and Blaine ended the conversation with a look and I asked Adelaide if she was okay.

"I'm... fine. I just needed to talk with someone. Blaine helped me out with that." Adelaide gave a nod over to where Blaine was now sitting uncomfortably. He gave a shrug and turned on the TV to watch previous games yet again.

Sealle entered in the suite soon after and had to endure questioning from her about how we thought our training had gone.

"It was fine." said Blaine plainly. "I threw some stuff around and did some flashy sword stuff."

"I don't know how I did." I said knowing they would know how to judge my skills better than I could. "I aimed some knives and some spears and then I camouflaged my arm to look like part of some shrubbery." I said glancing at my arm to show them the green on my arm that I hadn't had time to wash off.

"Well", said Sealle clearly disappointed but trying to make me feel better." It could have… been worse. Good job Blaine I'm sure you'll score high. Mercilli… Good luck." She then left quickly but if looks could kill, Adelaide and Bennett would have just committed murder.

"Fingers crossed!" said Adelaide as we waited impatiently for the training scores later that evening. I gave her a smile but I was nervous. What if I got a low number like 3? That would not be good. I hope I get at least a 4 or a 5 so I won't be completely worthless.

"I can't watch" I said mournfully. "I'm going to my room" I ran to my room as fast as I could afraid of what might happen if I was to get a bad score and start crying in front of everyone which I assure you would happen. A few seconds later I heard screams and Adelaide came bursting into my room.

"7! You got a 7!" she yelled overjoyed waiting for my reaction.

I stood up not daring to believe it. 7? That was a really good score for a 12 year old.

"Really?" I said with some disbelief hoping it wasn't too good to be true.

"Yes!" said Adelaide her eyes filled with pride. You got a 7 and Blaine got a 10. As she told me the scores I realized that my score was as good as I could hope for!

"How did Miles and Brooke do?"

"Hmm I think that Brooke got a 7 as well and Miles got an 8." Adelaide said with a smile.

"Oh! We might have a chance after all! I wish I could talk to them." I was filled with delight. We all had decent scores and- before I had a chance to keep thinking about the matter Sealle walked in looking apologetic.

"Oh, Mercilli, I am truly sorry I didn't mean to burst your bubble. Congratulations. "I looked up at her for a moment before smiling gently and saying,

" It's Okay. I am sure you didn't really mean it." Sealle smiled at me began to walk to the door.

"There is some extra ice cream for dessert if you want some to celebrate your score." Sealle's eyes glimmered with happiness.

"Of course!" I said with a grin before I walked out of the room with the slightest spring in my step. Before I could reach the kitchen however, I noticed Blaine walking down the hall to his room.

"Congrats Blaine." He looked up at my words and nodded. "If you would mind not killing me in the games, I would sure appreciate it." I looked at Blaine as he stared at me as if he couldn't believe what I was saying.

'"I'm not going to kill you. I can't. I was friends with your brother. If I return home and you are dead well… let's just say I won't be very well liked. " As Blaine made his promise I realized what he was saying was true. If he made it home then he wouldn't be very popular for letting me die. If I got home however, people would be mad at me for not being able to save a perfectly capable 17 year old. "But regardless of that I wouldn't kill my district partner. That's just wrong." Blaine was right again. I couldn't remember district partners turning on each other before.

I nodded and slowly returned to walking to the kitchen to where Adelaide and Sealle were waiting for me. As I walked I heard a door slam. I knew it was Blaine's so I didn't look back. As I ate my ice-cream, Adelaide began to explain the interviews that we would be having the next day. I listened carefully and the part I was most worried about was the fact that I would be stuck with my prep team for a couple hours yet again.


	7. Chapter 7

"Hold still", said Pearl one of my stylists as she attempted to curl my stringy blonde hair. It would fall every she would use the curling device and my constant fidgeting wasn't helping her.

"I'm trying! "I said hoping I made it out of my prep team's clutches without serious damage. They were getting me ready for the interviews. Basically we each got 3 minutes to talk to the interviewer. These few minutes were crucial because you have to either be likeable or good looking enough to win over sponsors so that they would help you by sending a parachute that would contain something useful.

I was dressed in a green silk dress that came just below the knees. It had a flowy appearance and several layers. Mason was standing next to Pearl along with Darla and Marine as she tried to curl my hair. Eventually he saved me from the torture of hair curling by deciding an updo would look better than curls. I was very much relived until I realized what kind of updo Mason had in mind. After 2 hours of tugging, pinning, and spraying my hair, Adelaide came to save me.

Adelaide escorted Blaine and I, along with Bennett and Sealle to the building that the interviews would take place in. Blaine was dressed in a green tux with black shoes. As soon as we walked in I spotted Miles and Brooke and walked over to them.

"Mercilli! You look Amazing!" said Brooke with astonishment. I examined Brooke. She was wearing a deep brown colored dress that came down to her ankles and Miles was wearing a black tux with silver accents

"Thanks! You guys look good too!" I was about to ask her how long it took for them to do her hair as it was perfectly curled, when Adelaide came to come get me for the interviews. The guy from 3 was finishing up and then it would be my turn.

I was nervous. I had to make sure people liked me or I was toast. They called my name and I walked onstage. As I walked to my chair onstage, the crowd yelled and cheered for me. The interviewer, whose name was Niccolo Evens, invited me to sit down and asked me how I was doing. As I answered, I wondered why they would ask someone who would most likely be dead by this time tomorrow how they were doing.

"Oh you know, just fine" I said calmly feeling more comfortable. I looked out at the crowd and gave them a huge fake smile. They cheered again and I began to gain confidence.

"Really? Now, how good do you think your chances are of winning? "Niccolo looked at me intensely as I considered the question and suddenly tensed up.

"Well, I don't think they are all that high since I am only 12 but we will just have to wait and see!" I looked at my feet as if I was sad and the crowd made a sympathetic noise. I thought that I had done a pretty good job if I do say so myself. For the remainder of the interview, Niccolo asked me several other questions about training and my training score of 7, before I was whisked off stage.

Blaine entered the stage just I was leaving. I could tell that the people would like Blaine, he was strong and quiet and everyone knew he had a high training score. Before I left I hung around to see how Miles and Brooke would do. Miles was charming, and everyone loved him. Brooke joked around and had a smirk on her face the whole time. I walked with Blaine, accompanied by Bennett and Adelaide back to our suite. Sealle had disappeared somewhere to drink I presume so it was just the four of us in the room. It was very quiet until Blaine spoke up.

"I know you don't want to talk about it Bennett but since this is probably one of our last conversations I want to know what happened in your games." I was surprised that Blaine was being this forward. It was abnormal of him. Bennett took a long hard look at Blaine before walking over to the TV. He put in a code that granted us access to watch game recaps we hadn't seen before. I had heard Blaine complain about certain games being restricted to watch without authorization but I hadn't really thought much of it.

The four of us sat down on the couches and watched as a young Bennett fought his way to the final 2 by brutally killing many. He stopped at nothing to get to the end. I watched in horror as the young Bennett killed the final tribute and fell to the ground exhausted. I know understood why Bennett was so quiet. He was so remorseful about how he had acted in the games and he had become slightly addled.

"Don't play like this. Kill only when in self-defense. It isn't necessary. Leave the tracking to the others. They will come to you sooner or later. If you play like this, you don't deserve to win. This-," Bennett pointed at the paused screen, "This isn't winning. You have to live the rest of your life knowing you did this. You killed these people. It's not right." I was shocked. I only managed a nod before I excused myself to bed.

I was almost to my room when I heard the door open.

"So what did I miss?" Sealle had drunkenly made her way up to the suite and was now talking to the lamp saying that it needed to go to bed because we all had to get up early the next morning. We all gave a halfhearted laugh before helping her to a seat where she proceeded to fall asleep with her head on the table.

I went to sleep that night with dread not knowing what the future held for me. I was going to die. I knew that. I just wish I could die knowing who would win. I knew how my journey will end, but I want to know how the other's journeys will end too. My last thought before I fell asleep was that by this time tomorrow, I might be dead.


	8. Chapter 8

"Mercilli, Time to get up!" I awoke to Adelaide gently rubbing my arm.

"What time is it?" I said wide awake a soon as I realized what day today was. I glanced at my clock when Adelaide didn't answer to see that it was 4:20. I had to be in a helicopter on my way at 5!

I jumped out of bed and in to the high tech showers as fast as I could. When I got out Adelaide was gone but there was a pile of clothes for me to wear. I quickly put them on and ran out of the door. It was my tribute uniform. The uniforms were basically black jumpsuits with some gold details here and there.

I left my room and walked down to the kitchen. Bennett and Blaine were sitting at the table eating slower than usual, Adelaide was waiting at the bottom of the stairs for me to come down, and Sealle was pacing back and forth muttering her schedule to herself. Blaine was wearing the same thing as me but he looked very pale, almost nervous which I didn't expect from him. The atmosphere between the four of us was different. I guess because of last night.

"Good Morning." I said not meaning a word of it. Sealle glanced up and nodded and then started pacing again. Adelaide wheedled some food into me and we waited for the peacekeepers to come for Blaine and me. Our stylists would meet us right before we went up into the arena.

They came and took us to a helicopter on the top floor of the building we had been staying at, where most of the other tributes were. I was so nervous I didn't even think of my fear of heights. They inserted tracking devices into our arms so that they could find us if necessary. Before I knew it, I was sitting next to the girl from 3 whose name I thought might be Cherish. She looked to be a tad older than me and was just as nervous as I was.

When the helicopter landed they individually took us down to the rooms where we would enter from. When I entered the room Mason was waiting for me.

"Are you nervous?" I was barely able to make out his words through his heavy capitol accent.

"No" I said shakily. "I'm actually a lot nervous." I saw a small glass of water on a table and took a sip. As I put the cup down, I heard a voice that I was sure was being played throughout all the rooms.

"Please enter your capsules. They will leave in 30 seconds." I turned around to Mason giving me the gesture to enter my capsule. Not one second after I entered the capsule, it closed and I suddenly felt very claustrophobic.

"15 seconds" I wasn't ready for this.

"10 Seconds" I tried to regain my composure.

"5 Seconds" Oh no! I was going up!

Suddenly the light vanished and for about a second I was left in complete darkness. Suddenly I was blinded by light. I looked out over the grassy plain that I had been lifted into. In the distance I thought I saw palm trees and what looked to be a desert. I looked for Miles and Brooke and found them quickly as they were standing almost opposite me on their own pedestals.

Suddenly the timer began. 60… 59…58 I glanced around the cornucopia and tried to find something I could grab quickly without getting in too deep into the bloodbath once the gong sounded. It had already been arranged that as soon as we had grabbed stuff Miles (since he was the eldest) was to run off somewhere and Brooke and I would follow. I was worried that throughout all the commotion he would leave and we might get left behind or worse killed by another tribute.

46…45…44… I quickly spotted a small backpack and a piece of rope lying a couple feet away from me. I made my mind to grab that as soon as the gong sounded and to hurry off in the direction of Miles.

33…32…31… this was agonizing. 27…26...25… I saw Blaine getting into a ready position on a pedestal next to me. His face looked emotionless but I could tell he was nervous.

11…10…9…8…7… suddenly a couple pedestals to my right, there was a huge explosion. Someone, I think the boy from 8 had tried to step of their platform early and had been blown to smithereens. This distracted me and I was barely in my right mind when I heard the gong sound. I came back to reality when I saw the girl from 5 going after the backpack and rope. I raced to the backpack and grabbed it. I failed to grab the rope before the girl got it though.

I stood still unsure what to do. I saw Miles fighting some guy I thought was named Yule off in the opposite direction over a backpack and I almost ran to help but another guy named Dominic came after Yule and Yule dropped the fight with Miles and took off running. I am pretty sure Yule is dead because the career Dominic is huge.

It was chaos. There were people fighting left and right. Some of the smarter tributes were grabbing small things and running of into the distance. I heard someone scream my name and I saw Miles motioning for me to go in the direction of the palm trees I had seen earlier.

On my way out of the cornucopia I saw Brooke fighting with Trixie, the girl from 10 over a bow and a quiver of arrows and quickly rushed over to help. I came from behind and kicked Trixie hard in the back and she fell to the ground gasping in pain.

"Mercilli! Run" Brooke took off screaming at me to hurry up. I started running to catch up. I glanced over my shoulder to see that Allura was running after us with a pack of knives. It was just like my dream. Then I saw Miles, who must have stayed behind to get her, stab her in the back with a spear which took her by surprise. She gasped in pain and slumped to the ground. We saw that all she had was the knives that she had been about to kill us with so we took those and started running towards the area where I had earlier seen palm trees.

I glanced back one last time and thought I saw Blaine stabbing a boy I didn't recognize and killing him. The whole idea of the games, it was just revolting.

We ran until we felt that we had enough distance between us and the cornucopia. I was completely out of breath. As we all sat down near a large boulder I began to take in my surroundings. We were not in a desert but it was close to it. We were sitting on a mixture of sand and dirt and around us there were small clumps of grass and a couple of palm trees.

"Let's see what we got." said Brooke taking out her bow and arrows. Miles got a backpack and was still carrying his spear and I had grabbed a backpack as well. We went through his stuff first. There was a small package of dried fruit as well matches to start a campfire, and there was a water bottle half full of water. We were so out of breath we all reached for it at once but then decided to save it for later.

"Well", said Miles," What's in yours Mercilli?" He glanced at my backpack and I pulled it off of my back. I unzipped it and looked inside. There was a sleeping bag as well as a pack of knives.

"Look at that! I said," We all have weapons!

"Yep", said Miles "Come on we should keep moving."

"I'm exhausted from that run though." said Brooke grumbling. "Can't we wait here little longer? Suddenly we started hearing cannon fire that not only told us how many people were dead but it told us that the Blood Bath was over. I counted in my head 5…6…7…8. 8 people were already dead.

At the end of the day when it was dark they would show us the names of the tributes that had fallen but until then we would have to wait and see who where are biggest threats. We knew Allura was dead for sure as well as the kid that stepped of his platform too early. There were still 6 dead unknown.

The three of us decided it would be best to separate ourselves from the cornucopia as much as possible. We walked for what seemed like hours, until we reached a small creek and we all decided this would be a good place to stop for the night. We refilled Miles's bottle and each drank some water as well as decide to break out the dried fruit.

It soon became dark, and we made a small fire to keep us warm. We hoped we were far enough away from any other people for the fire to be seen. As predicted, they soon projected the names and pictures of the fallen into the dark sky. They showed the dead by order of district. First came Allura, which meant both from 1 were still out there. Then it skipped to the district 3 boy which meant that Allura's district partner was alive and probably seeking revenge. Then there was the boy from 6, Yule, the one who had fought Miles, which meant Blaine survived.

After that I didn't recognize the other tributes, both from 10, Aden, from 7, at which point Brooke made a gasp of surprise but quickly suppressed it. They ended at the boy from 12 before the sky went dark. We glanced around to see that our campfire had been blown out during the last few minutes. As Brooke walked over to get the matches to start it again, she screamed and the sound of cannon fire filled the air. Miles and I didn't stop to think; we grabbed the nearest supplies and started running.

_***Author's Note***_

_**We are finally in the games! New chapters will probably be a bit slower but they will also be longer. I hope you guys are liking it! As always.. review!**_

_**~AvidReader3752**_


	9. Chapter 9

Miles and I ran for our life over the sandy terrain. We couldn't see who was chasing. We were both crying at the death of our friend but we couldn't sit and mourn. After a while we heard someone speak.

"Wait, Miles?" The chaser stopped abruptly as did Miles as he seemed to recognize the voice.

"Quinn? It's you! Mercilli, this is Quinn my district partner." Miles has stopped running and was greeting Quinn, "Quinn! Why were you chasing us? "

"I didn't recognize you" Quinn said sheepishly. She glanced around, and said, "Look we need to move on, my ally Ruby was the one who killed your friend Brooke. She had stopped to see if she could take anything off of Brooke but she will be coming after you soon though." Quinn looked genuinely worried for us.

"You seem to be scared of Ruby. Why?" I said questioningly. She shrugged as though she didn't have an answer. "Why don't you come with us Quinn?" I suggested. If Miles trusted her then I did. Quinn pondered to herself for a moment before she decided that she would rather come with us.

"Thanks again guys, that Ruby girl is kind of scary." Quinn looked so relieved and grateful but she also seemed nervous. Every couple of seconds she would glance back as if someone was following us. The terrain soon changed from the almost desert to a we found a tree that seemed safe enough to sleep in so we climbed up and got settled. Quinn and I slept in my sleeping bag while Miles took the first watch. We all 3 took turns sleeping and keeping guard. After what seemed to be an endless night with another cannon fire at some point, dawn broke.

We climbed out of the tree as soon as it was light enough to see the trees and the ground. We were all starving and broke out the small amount of water and food we had. It didn't affect my hunger at all so we decided to go looking for food. Miles and I searched an area of small trees to see if there was any fruit while Quinn stalked the grass looking for small edible roots and such. Miles and I hadn't spoken of Brooke yet. It was like we were refusing to acknowledge her death. Surely any minute now she would walk through the trees and join us on our food hunt.

Suddenly we heard a twig crack and we all turned around to see a rabbit watching us. Miles looked at us and told us not to make a sound. He crept up on the side of it a plunged his spear into the rabbit. We made a fire a cooked the meat. It was surprisingly not that bad. When we were finished eating we threw away all of the bones and gathered our things.

"We better get moving." said Quinn. "It's almost about noon." We agreed to move on and started walking in the opposite direction of the desert we had been in last night. Suddenly we heard a voice come from the trees.

"Well hello there Quinn. Fancy running into you again." One look at Quinn's face confirmed my horrible suspicion. "Thought you could just run off did you? You can't possibly believe that I wouldn't come track you down. It's not like you were that hard to follow." Ruby looked to be about 15 or 16 but she was looked at us as if we were fresh meat. She had long black hair and fair skin. I could understand why Quinn was in a hurry to leave her.

"Umm… well... you see… I…" Quinn couldn't speak. Suddenly there was sound of a cannon fire. While the rest of us including Ruby were momentarily distracted, Miles whipped out his sword and dove at Ruby. He tried to stab her with his spear but missed. Ruby whipped out a knife and sliced Miles in the arm. Miles gasped in pain and fell to the ground. Ruby had a look of triumph on her face but before she could relish it for very long Quinn pulled out one of my knives and threw it at her hoping that it would hit.

The knife hit her square in the chest. Ruby sank to the ground groaning. She yanked the knife out of her chest and attempted to throw it but she couldn't muster enough strength to do so. We heard the sound of cannon and ran over to Ruby to see that she had stopped breathing. "She's dead" said Quinn slightly shaken up. Quinn and I then ran over to Miles. He was alive but his arm was severely injured and we had acquired no medicines or anything to wrap the arm with. "I think his arm is broken." I said thinking that we were lucky that it wasn't worse than it was. Ruby could have cut off his arm with her skills. I took off my backpack and took out the sleeping bag. I ripped off part of the fabric with my knife and tightly wrapped it around Miles's arm. It wasn't much but it was all we had. I was becoming dark so Quinn and I decided to climb up into the trees and go ahead and let Miles rest. We made sure he was comfortable and before we knew it we heard the music for the fallen tributes.

First was Ruby which meant all of the careers, including Blaine were alive, then there was Brooke, whom the sight of made Miles and I look away. The other 2 dead were the 13 year old from 8, and the boy from 11 and that was it. In all 12 were dead which meant other than Miles, Quinn, and I there were still 9 alive. After about an hour of trying to sleep, I shifted my position slightly in hopes of trying to get comfortable. It didn't really do much good but it had apparently alerted Miles, who was lying on the ground that I was awake.

"Mercilli? Was that you?"

"Yeah" I said in reply. "You okay?"

"I heard despair in his voice as he spoke, "Not really. I'm still refusing to believe that… Brooke…"I cut him off and tried to reassure him.

"I know. But there is nothing we could have done to help. Don't beat yourself up about it."

"But if I had been more alert or if I had gone to relight the fire myself this wouldn't have happened." I wasn't quite sure what to say. We were both silent for a moment before I finally spoke up.

"You may be right. But the same goes for me. I could have gone and made the fire and you guys would have both lived a bit longer. But this is the Hunger Games. All but one die and I'm pretty sure that none of us are going to win over those big careers. So at least it won't come down to the three of us fighting it out." Miles didn't say anything so I turned over to go back to sleep. I had been laying there for about 5 minutes when Miles finally responded.

"Brooke never would have made it to the end anyway. She wasn't strong or smart enough. But you are Mercilli. I think you could do it." Miles ended with a sigh and I knew the conversation was over. I thought about what he said doubting his words. I wasn't big enough or old enough to win the Games. There was no way. But then again, I trusted Miles judgment. I wasn't sure what to think.


	10. Chapter 10

The next couple days were uneventful for the three of us. We would go out and search for food every couple hours and end up with just enough scraps to keep us all alive. We had managed to find a small quiet stream a little ways away from one of our encampments but we would move around every day so we didn't have access to it for long. We were managing to stay alive however and that was enough.

I loved listening to Miles and Quinn share stories about district 8, which they would do quite often to eliminate the boring hours. They had briefly known each other as children but were not too close so they would both have two opinions of a shared friend or classmate which was always interesting to hear. Miles and I hadn't spoken of Brooke since the other night, but it was easier that way. Quinn respected our silence on the matter and didn't bring it up. By this point I felt a tad closer to Quinn then I had been to Brooke. Quinn and I now had shared experienced that Brooke and I hadn't had yet. Quinn treated me like a younger sister. She was 3 years older than me so it worked.

After a day of no cannon fire, we heard one blast early afternoon on our 4th day in the arena. I hadn't seemed like only four days. That night we saw that it was the little girl about my age from 11. Quinn and Miles didn't really seem bothered by another death but I was. I just wanted all this to be over with.

On the 5th day in the arena, we spent a good few hours hiding quietly in the trees because the 3 remaining careers had wandered to close to our encampment than we liked. We had heard loud voices and had barely managed to grab our belongings and scamper up the tree before two tall guys and one girl appeared from the think forest. We were quite high up in the tree so they didn't see us but we had a close call when Quinn sneezed and broke the eerie silence. Thankfully one of the immature boys decided to loudly belch at almost the exact same moment so they didn't hear Quinn.

The 3 careers finally decided to keep moving. By listening to the conversations taking place we learned they had killed the little girl yesterday and fatally wounded her companion who had escaped. They didn't think she would be around much longer though. Poor girl. She's probably hiding out in a tree or cave somewhere slowly dying.

After the three of us had climbed out of the tree, we decided it would be best to begin moving. We walked for an hour or so and after a while we came upon a small cave opening that was hidden in the tall bushes near a bunch or boulders. We decided to check it out and made our way inside. Miles went in first and within a moment of his entrance we heard a small yelp as if Miles was surprised by something.

"Uh, guys? You two might want to come see this." Quinn and I glanced at each other in confusion before entering through the small hole. We then understood Miles's surprise.

The small hole had led to an underground cave that was not proportional to the size of the entrance. It was the shape of a square with roundish edges, and there was a layer of grass that acted as a floor. Alongside one of the walls was the most surprising thing, a girl sleeping. She didn't seem to have any weapons but I noticed a small pack that she was using as a pillow under head. I looked the girl up and down and noticed that her arm had a huge gash that ran all the way from her shoulder to just past the elbow. Then it hit me. This was the girl who had been with the girl who had died the day before and one who the careers thought to be close to death. Suddenly the girl woke and noticed us all watching her. She sat up and backed up against the wall wincing from the pain that was caused from the weight she had put on her arm get up. The look on her face was sheer terror. Miles was the first to speak.

"We won't hurt you. Don't be scared." Quinn gave Miles a questioning look. While I didn't agree with it, I knew what she was thinking. This girl would be an easy kill, one step closer to going home.

"But I don't know you. You have no reason to spare me."

"But I have no reason to kill you either." Miles smiled encouragingly and again began to speak. "What's your name? How old? What District?" The girl's name was Cherish and she was from 3. I then briefly remembered sitting next to her in the helicopter the morning the games started. Cherish was 14 like Miles and had frizzy black hair that complimented her olive toned skin. She wasn't very strong looking but I'm sure she made up for that in brains as District 3 was Technology and they were always the smartest.

Cherish agreed that we would be safest overnight in the cave so we slept in peace that night. Before we fell asleep, Cherish told us that she and the other girl, Colette, had been walking at night thinking it easier to travel under the cover of darkness, but they were ambushed by the careers and Colette didn't make it. The career girl was the one who had injured Cherish and it was a pretty deep wound. None of us said anything but we all knew that without medicine, the wound would become infected potentially killing her.

The next morning, there was this eerie feeling in the air. We knew that the gamemakers could change the weather so we figured that they were sending some sort of rainstorm. The four of us had come out from the cave for bit when suddenly we felt the ground shaking ever so slightly. It stopped for a moment but then began again with much more force.

"I think it's an earthquake. Where is the safest place to go in an earthquake?" Cherish spoke rapidly and slightly panicked. We decided to stay above ground where we were and not second later the most powerful jolt yet hit. We heard loud noises of trees breaking and lots of rumbling in the distance. There was so many things happening at once and all of a sudden we heard a cannon go off that was followed by another not 4 seconds later.

Just as suddenly as it had begun, the ground stopped shaking for hopefully the last time. We all stood still our hearts beating faster than normal. We then heard another cannon go off.

"That's 3." I said breathing hard. "Maybe they thought we weren't killing each other fast enough." The look on Miles face made me think I was right. We managed to climb over some of the branches that had fallen between the four of us.

"Well look at that. The final 8." Miles grimaced as he said this and I realized he was right. We were about to return to the cave when suddenly Quinn, who had been strangely silent the past few minutes, turned around and looked at us with a face I hadn't seen before.

"Actually, the final 7." Then before any of us could do anything, Quinn had taken a knife and stabbed Miles in the stomach.

_***Author's Note***_

_**So sorry for the cliffhanger! I guess you will have to check back here for the next chapter in a day or two to see what happens! As always... review!**_

_**~AvidReader3752**_


	11. Chapter 11

Even hours after Quinn's betrayal I was still refusing to believe what happened. Right after Quinn had stabbed Miles, Quinn started after me but I managed to dodge her knife and Cherish kicked her down from behind. We grabbed our packs that were lying close by and were about to try and help Miles but we heard the sound of cannon and knew it was too late. I started crying and didn't stop until Cherish (whose arm injury had quite a toll on her speed) decided she wasn't following us and suggested hiding out up in a tree.

I couldn't believe Quinn. Cherish speculated that Quinn had used us to get to the final 8 and had planned to get rid of Miles, the biggest threat before going off on her own. Cherish tried to help cheer but to no avail. When it became dark, we found out who had died from the earthquake. First was the guy from 2, and then both from 5. Then there was Miles. I couldn't bear to look at his face in the dark sky so I looked away and fresh tears fell from my eyes.

The next morning Cherish informed me with a blank face that she was quite sure her arm was infected and that she would probably die today. I nodded expressionlessly and went back to moping about my friend's death. My personality had changed overnight. I no longer cared what happened from here on out. I didn't really care about anyone else. I didn't care about how far off my death was because it would relieve me of the pain all these deaths that had taken place were causing me.

When Cherish told me to go so that I wouldn't have to be present at her death, I didn't argue. I knew there was nothing I could do. I took both of our packs and started walking. Not a couple minutes later the deafening noise that filled the air told me of Cherish's death. Only 5 other people left in the arena I thought to myself. I walked for I don't know how long and eventually sat down exhausted at the base of a tree. I don't know how long I slept but before I knew it, I hear the sound of laughing and footsteps coming in my direction. I didn't even try to climb the tree. I didn't care anymore.

Moments later I saw who was nearing my tree and they saw me. It was the guy and girl from 1 and Quinn. I guess she had found better company. They ran at me as soon as they saw me and they started making these awful sounds of cheering and screaming in triumph. I would have been killed instantly if not for a single arrow that hit the girl from 1 straight in the chest causing her to fall to the ground. Quinn and the guy who I know remembered was named Dominic stopped in their tracks and then started trying to figure out where the arrow had come from.

Two figures suddenly burst out from bushes and attacked the two careers. It was Blaine and the girl from 12. They fought hard and I wasn't about to let their efforts be in vain so as I heard a cannon signify the other girl's death, I hastily climbed the tree that I had been sitting by.

The fight was intense. Blaine managed to slash Dominic who seemed to realize they were outmatched and started running. Quinn followed him but not before using her new spear that went right through the girl from 12. The girl started losing blood fast and Blaine chose to try and help the girl rather than chase the other two.

As I tried to slow down the blood loss I learned her name was Sloanne. After a few minutes of attempting to help, Blaine stood up and abandoned his efforts. I did the same and we both backed away from the dying body. We both collected our things and began walking once we heard the sound confirming her death.

Once I had caught my breath, I began to question Blaine. "So I guess you two were working together?" Blaine nodded silently and I continued. "I guess you don't want to just talk do you?"

"What is there to talk about?"

"I don't know… uh I guess the weather's been nice." I smirked sarcastically. Blaine chuckled but didn't reply.

"Quinn, you know the girl that just escaped? She had been with Miles and I for a while but betrayed us after the earthquake. She killed Miles." I felt a lump form in my throat as I said this. I hadn't actually said the words Miles and dead in the same sentence yet. It hurt.

"I'm sorry." Blaine suddenly came to a halt and motioned for me to sit down. He did the same and continued to speak. "I have something to tell you. Before we left from 4 to go to the Capitol, your brother came and spoke to me. He asked me to protect you. To do anything I could do try and ensure your survival. I told him I would. I want you to know, I don't intend to break that promise."

I listened to Blaine and wondered if what he said was true. Had my brother really come and talked to Blaine? Was Blaine being honest or was he just bluffing. I wasn't sure. None of us spoke and eventually I began to notice a pattern in is breathing. He was asleep. I guess I drifted off shortly after but we both woke a while later to the dark sky and Capitol music playing. I watched as the face of the girl from 1 whose name was Jasmine filled the sky and was followed by Cherish. Last there was Sloanne, whose face made Blaine shift telling me he was awake. We both settled again soon after this but I was unable to sleep. I had the feeling Blaine was having similar problems.

As I sat up against the tree listening to the sound of the peaceful crickets, I thought about Quinn. I couldn't see how someone could be so mean and cruel to people. I just wanted to go home. I was starting to let myself hope I might live and make it out of here. Hours later, I still hadn't slept and had spent most of the night thinking of my dead companions, Quinn, my family, and other things. Once dawn broke, Blaine and I were startled to hear the sound of cannon.

"One of them must have killed each other." I said this with no doubt that Quinn had been the murdered.

"Come on. We better start moving. She will be after us now." Little did I know how long a day I had ahead of me.

**_*Author's Note*_**

**_The next chapter will be the final chapter. As always... review!_**

**_~AvidReader3752 _**


	12. Chapter 12

Blaine and I were silent most of the morning. We walked I don't know how far until the forest cleared and we were standing at the base of a small mountain. Then Blaine let me rest for a bit. We figured Quinn would find us sooner or later so we might as well stop running and get our rest.

"You okay?" Blaine looked at me concerned. My feet were so tired from all the walking and running I had done in the games. I felt as if my legs were about to just stop working.

"Yeah. But I really just want to lie down for a while." Blaine nodded and started watching for any signs of Quinn in the distance.

Apparently the gamemakers didn't want me to lie down for a bit. We heard loud rumbling behind us and started running straight back into the forest after we discovered the "Mountain" we had been resting at the base of was actually a volcano. I started spewing ash and lava and we couldn't have run faster to get away from it.

If the gamemakers plan was to make Quinn find us, it worked. We soon saw her in the distance though a thick patch of trees. Adrenaline surged through us as we ran faster to escape both the still incoming hot lava and Quinn. I glanced behind us as we ran. Quinn had the same look on her face as she did right before she killed Miles but it had more rage behind it. The lava slowed down after a couple minutes of running and eventually it was just Quinn we were running from.

"Mercilli! Follow me!" Blaine suddenly swerved to the right and motioned for me to get behind him. We were both exhausted and could barely move yet we managed to get into fighting positions and Quinn got nearer.

"Aw it's so cute. Protecting her? Well I have news buddy-"Suddenly Blaine surged forward with no warning and stabbed Quinn through the chest. She fell to the ground gasping in pain. She hadn't been expecting his attack. After only a moment or two, Quinn was dead. Blaine turned around to face me. I wasn't sure if he was about to kill me or not.

"I told you I wouldn't break my promise."

"But I did nothing brave! I just sat there and let everyone die while I watched. You were brave and protected me. You should go home."

"Bravery? Is that what you call it? I sure don't. It's like Bennet said that last night. This isn't how you should win. I killed innocent people whose only motives were wanting to return home. I have to admit. At first I planned on just letting you die and getting out of here in the end. Once it came to the final 8 though, I knew I had to save you. Sloanne understood this. She fought hard knowing that I would let you win if it came down to it." I listened to Blaine's words in shock. He had tears starting to stream down his face. "I couldn't live with myself if I went home Mercilli. You have to understand this."

"But I can't leave without feeling guilty that I let you die!" I had starting crying by this point because I had a bad feeling that I wasn't going to win this argument.

"I'm sorry it had to end this way Mercilli. But I have to do this." Then, before I could say or do anything, Blaine had taken his own spear and plunged it through him. I screamed and try to remove the spear but I was too late. I sat there in silence. Moments later, a loud voice with a capitol accent rang out.

"Congratulations to Mercilli Grant! The winner of the 46th Annual Hunger Games!" A helicopter appeared in the sky landed on the ground where Blain's dead body still remained, and Peacekeepers exited the helicopter and escorted me inside. I didn't remember much that happened after. I vaguely remembered medics examining me and giving me plenty of food and water to eat but that was about it before I fell asleep.

Eventually I was woken up by none other than Adelaide and Bennett who as soon as they saw my open eyes, scooped me into a hug and wept with me. We wept for Blaine, for my dead friends, and all the other dead tributes. After I don't know how long, we managed to subdue our tears and the two of them explained what would happen next.

I would get a day of rest and then tomorrow I would meet my prep team who would fix me up for my post-games interview. Then there would be a crowning ceremony where I would get a fancy party in my honor, and then I could go home. I couldn't wait to see my family. I wonder how to will react to my arrival. Will they still love me? Or will they despise me for letting all those people die?

I slept most of my day off and before I knew it, my prep team and Mason were dressing me up for my interview while saying things like,

"We are so proud!"

"I'm so glad you won over Quinn."

"I know you mourn your friends now but it will wear off soon." I was really starting to be annoyed with these people.

At the interview, they showed different clips of my "best moments" from the games. There were things like escaping Quinn right after she had killed Miles and moments with Blaine, but I didn't really pay attention. I said what needed to be said for the cameras as instructed by Adelaide and only felt like screaming twice during the interview.

That evening at the crowning ceremony, I met the president and did my best to smile and be polite and she congratulated me. I really wanted to say that she was a horrid person for letting the games take place but I told her that she looked lovely and it was an honor to win. Adelaide and Bennett let me leave as soon as I could and within the hour I was on a train on my way to District 4. I had said a quick goodbye to Sealle at the ceremony but I'm pretty sure she had been too drunk to know who I was.

A couple hours and a couple nightmares later, we pulled into the station in District 4. I was nervous to see my family. I was scared they would hate me. The doors to the train opened and my fears disappeared. There was my family, crying tears of joy at seeing my face. I saw other friends, including Ally in the welcoming crowd and I started running to greet them. I ran over to my family and they engulfed me in a huge hug. "You don't hate me?" my voice shook as I spoke.

"Merci, we will never hate you. How could we. You did everything you could in that arena but its all in the past now. We are always going to love and be here for you." My mother's soothing words assured me and for the first time since I had won The Hunger Games, I felt like everything was going to be okay.

**The End**

**_*Author's Note*_**

**_ I hope everyone enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it! Funny enough... One of my reviewers suggested I had Blaine kill himself so Mercilli could win, and I had already written this chapter! What a coincidence! As always... review!_**

**_~AvidReader3752_**


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